Firstly, a few words about the Villa game. We lost but I was very, very proud of the way the boys fought till the end. The loss did not come as a surprise given the form of Villa and having to play them away, and of course the 3 out of 4 CBs missing did not help. Yet we bossed large parts of the game and had chances to win it. It was a fab game of football and a draw would have been a fairer result, but for me the fight for the win, the passion in the team, and the devastation of the players at the end showed us how ready these guys are to win the title. I cannot ask for more.
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**Second part of season starts NOW.**
We all know that a season has two halves. Every team will be played home and away, and once we played all teams once the second part of the season starts (except for the games v Villa which will be completed before we have played all teams at least once). Yet, when I looked at the Arsenal scheduled fixtures for this season, it was clear to me that the season for us would be split into the first 15 games and then the remaining 23. If we did well in those first 15 and stayed in touch with the league leaders, I thought, we would have a good chance of winning the league.
Many of the really hard away games are front-loaded during these first 15 games. Man United (somehow never easy for us), Liverpool, Newcastle, Sunderland (okay this was not expected to be such a hard fixture), Chelsea and Villa away are now all behind us, and yet we actually lead the league. This is a fantastic achievement, especially with so many injuries concentrated in key areas (attack and recently our central defence). We will of course have to play these teams again but playing them at home is a big advantage.
There are some remaining hard away fixtures like Spuds and Man City, and the likes of Nottingham Forest and Brighton will certainly be tough nuts to crack, but it really feels to me that the remainder of the season will be much more manageable. There is a good flow to this for the team and management to prepare well and know when they have to peak, and the home crowd and stadium make such a big difference in these key battles.
The team did also amazing in the CL and can take the coming three games lightly, if they so wish. The focus now has to be on the PL and try and push through as many wins as possible. Key is to nurse back our central defenders as soon as reasonably possible, and avoid further injuries. Easier said than done of course. For some reason, we keep getting those injuries in specialised areas constantly, and I don’t really know why this seem to be happening to Arsenal especially. Any thoughts, BKers?
It is time to increase the gap between us and especially Citeh, so let’s get cracking. But first we have to cross the Brugge. No idea what the lineup for rhis game will be. Again, any thoughts?
**By TotalArsenal.**